Make absolutely sure all of your suspension and chassis parts are not race pieces. If they are, make sure you have a sticker on them... doesn't matter which one, just pick one. I had Afco upper arms on a 66 Bonneville that I tried to register in PA. No way would it pass. I called Hotchkis, ordered a catalog for free (which came with stickers), installed the stickers on the control arms and they passed with flying colors. The inspector was heard exclaiming, "I didn't know Hotchkis made B-body suspension stuff..." It has to be either a stock piece or a performance aftermarket piece designed for that vehicle.

Eliminate every single spherical heim joint. They won't pass. All ball joints, tie rod ends, etc must be a tapered seat like a factory application.

You'll always find shops that will let anything pass, but if you want to be able to inspect it at your choice of places, make sure you have strong ties to a factory setup. It can be a chevy that is hopped up beyond all recognition, but they don't want to see it go the other way around. They don't want to see a race car brought down to street duty.

If you'll always be around the same place every year, you might have a friend of a friend who will let it sneak by. There are some places that understand that the spirit of the law is to keep road cars safe and if they see that yours is safe, they'll put a sticker on it. Others won't put their sticker on it if it has a stone chip in the windshield. But if a shop sees big frame rails and no bumper and you end up killing a pedestrian, it comes back to them and they lose their business, their license, and are liable for some of the damages.

I might suggest buying a $100 Cutlass at a junkyard, combining the parts (as per the law which I think states 30%) into one car and legally using the title, VIN, and designation of the Cutlass to get an "R" title. Then you have a legally altered street vehicle provided it passes inspection. I'm planning on that with an old IH scout on a Ford Bronco chassis. The IH doesn't have a title, but the Bronco does. Under certain parameters its legal to title the vehicle to the VIN of the vehicle that donated X% of the parts. The interpretation of that law is up to you, the inspection station, and the DOT.

Expect to have trouble even after you've followed the law. Inspection stations don't read the Vehicle code, they follow a checklist. Chances are they'll tell you that things can't be done even if you have the vehicle code book right in front of you. They get a little squirrely when they see something odd